Mark Miner Communications News-2007-2008

2009

Fall 2009 - In the "Special Thanks" section of his newly published book, entitled Bridgewater: A Narrative History of a Pennsylvania River Town, local author Valentine J. Brkich acknowledges Miner and several other volunteers with the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation as informational sources in the preparation of the volume. (Link to publisher Bridge Street Books.)

Nov. 13, 2009 - In a holiday-related story, "Pittsburgh Companies Retain Spirit of Giving," the Pittsburgh Business Times quotes chief marketing officer Mark Miner about Malin Bergquist's matching fundraising policy supporting the firm's cause of choice, the fight against cancer, and how the initiative is "increasingly a part of our culture." Full text.

Miner describes his collegiate and career experiences to senior marketing students in classes taught by Dr. Michael Walsh at Miner's alma mater, West Virginia University.

Nov. 12, 2009 - Miner presents his fourth annual guest lecture to senior marketing classes at West Virginia University's College of Business and Economics, on the topic of "Real Life Marketing: What You're Not Taught in College."

Nov. 4, 2009 - Miner is quoted in a special edition of Duquesne University's Nonprofit Leadership Institute e-newsletter, intended "to share with readers an inspiring insight into a leading community service CPA firm, Malin Bergquist, one of the NLI's annual sponsors." The story highlights Malin Bergquist's firmwide fight against cancer and its sponsorship of the Pittsburgh -20 Partnership. Full text.

Oct. 29, 2009 - At a dinner honoring American Cancer Society volunteers at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh, Malin Bergquist receives the Pennsylvania Division's highest annual honor, the "Corporate Excellence Award," for the firm's "leadership in the fight against cancer." With representatives of the firm's offices in Erie, Greensburg and Pittsburgh in attendance, chief marketing officer Miner -- a new member of the Society's board of directors in Pittsburgh -- accepts the handsome crystal on behalf of the firm, and cites the importance of leadership in opening new doors for ACS services and messages in the future.

Sept. 24-25, 2009 - The CPA firm of Malin Bergquist, for which Miner serves as chief marketing officer, is the only CPA firm to be a major sponsor of the Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership helping the region maximize its worldwide visibility during the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit. Malin Bergquist launches a G-20 website in German and English to promote to the foreign press and dignitaries the importance of German companies on the Pittsburgh regional economy, featuring the stories of Ardex, Draeger Safety, Flabeg Solar and Lanxess. The firm's G-20 advocacy and expertise in international financial reporting standards are covered extensively by the news media with stories by the Associated Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Business Times and WDUQ-FM Radio.

Aug. 22, 2009 - Miner is mentioned twice on Weekend Magazine with Rob Pratte on 1020 KDKA-AM, in an interview with Beaver Area Heritage Foundation President Edwards McLaughlin, for his volunteer work with the Heritage Foundation and Museum.

CPAmerica's national newsletter featuring Malin Bergquist's firmwide fight against cancer

August 2009 - CPAmerica International's popular Brainstorming newsletter, distributed to more than 2,500 U.S. based certified public accountants with 80 independent member firms, publishes a front-page, top headline story about Malin Bergquist's firmwide fight against cancer, mentioning Miner and noting that "When faced with great sadness... employees marshalled their resources and decided to turn their grief toward making a difference." More.

June 23, 2009 - Miner is elected to the board of directors of the American Cancer Society, Greater Pittsburgh Unit, for a three-year term, in connection with his role as head of Malin Bergquist Charities and its firmwide fight against cancer.

June 3, 2009 - In his role as director of U.S. public affairs for Gran Pacifica Beach and Golf Resort, and at the request of Nicaragua's investment promotion agency (ProNicaragua), Miner makes a presentation at the Nicaragua Embassy in Washington, DC, to representatives of a national trade association, on the benefits of living in Nicaragua and Central America. He is introduced by Nicaragua Tourism Minister Mario Salinas Pasos.

May 8, 2009 - Malin, Bergquist & Company, LLP, one of the largest and fastest growing CPA firms in Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Erie, PA, releases its newly published Annual Review for the second year in a row, for the benefit of clients and friends of the firm. Click for a printer-friendly copy.

March 22, 2009 - The Sunday Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publishes a guest column, "Ready for Global Financial Standards?", authored by Jeffrey Deane and Peter Kern, partners with the Malin Bergquist CPA firm. Full text.

Feb. 20, 2009 - In its special issue on accountants, the Pittsburgh Business Times pictures and quotes Miner in a story headlined "Clients Urged to Be Bold and Not Cut Marketing Budgets." Calling him a "marketing multitasker," the article cites Miner's view that "when the economy retreats, personal relationships count more than ever." The article cites Miner's work as chief marketing officer for the Malin Bergquist CPA firm, and highlights the firm's launch of a new German-language website. Click for article.

Jan. 16, 2009 - Miner provides a public relations update at the annual meeting of shareholders of ECI Development, Ltd., at the company's Grand Baymen resort in San Pedro, Belize.

Jan. 2009 - Accountants and staff of Malin Bergquist complete deliveries of 400 sets of attractive books -- dealing with the sensitivities of cancer as seen through the eyes of children and teens -- to public libraries and schools in Allegheny, Erie and Westmoreland Counties, PA, all on company time. The effort, which Miner is helping to lead, is a tribute to the untimely cancer-caused deaths of two partners and an office manager during the past 18 months as the firm's signature charity.

Jan. 2009 - Miner releases the 2008 Annual Review of his proprietary, award-winning genealogy and regional history website, Minerd.com.

2008

Nov. 11, 2008 - Miner presents a guest lecture at the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University for the third straight year on the topic of “Tough Lessons in Real Life Marketing and Public Relations."

Miner, left, and Gran Pacifica founders Joel Nagel and Mike Cobb escort a Forbes reporter along the resort's 3.5 miles of pristine Pacific beachfront

Oct. 7, 2008 - In its "2009 Retirement Guide," Forbes Magazine features Miner's client, Gran Pacifica Resort in a story headlined: "Is Nicaragua the Next Retirement Paradise?" Copies are available in bookstores and newsstands all across the United States and Canada. Colorful aerial photographs of Gran Pacifica's lush green site, filled with homes and Las Perlas condominium, comprise about half of the opening two-page spread.

Writes Forbes: "With 450 miles of coastline, charming Spanish colonial towns, a cost of living up to 60% less than in the U.S. and a good reputation for safety, it's an exotic Florida on the cheap,” and adds, "the country's best selling point has been value." The story cites Gran Pacifica's infrastructure, debt-free status, construction progress and vision to be 'a Mayberry by the beach'." Forbes also cites some of the obstacles that have arisen in recent years, but makes it very clear that Gran Pacifica is "undeterred" and has found creative ways to continue plowing ahead.

Special "Pittsburgh 250" commemorative issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly

September 2008 - In its special commemorative "Pittsburgh 250" edition, Pittsburgh Quarterly magazine publishes "Family Is Everything -- and for Mark Miner, Cousins Are Everywhere," authored by Miner and mentioning his firm. The article highlights Miner's award-winning Minerd.com website and describes how it is contributing to the Pittsburgh 250 initiative. In promoting the article, publisher Doug Heuck writes that the annual National Minerd-Miner Reunion "could fill Heinz Field." Click for a reprint (1MB in size).

Left: honor guard prior to the unveiling of the Ohio HistoricalSociety "Custer Homestead" marker in Tontogany, Ohio. Right, L-R: Miner poses with re-enactors portraying double Medal of Honor winner Capt. Thomas Ward Custer and Gen. George Armstrong Custer

Aug. 10, 2008 - Miner helps state and local dignitaries dedicate a bronze Ohio Historical Society marker honoring the "Custer Homestead" in Tontogany, Ohio. The plaque memorializes General George Armstrong Custer and his family during their little-known years in Tontogany during the Civil War. At the dedication, Miner gives a talk on "Tontogany's Deep Secret" featuring his award-winning story of the general's brother, two-time Medal of Honor winner Captain Thomas Ward Custer, neighbor girl Rebecca Minerd and their child born out of wedlock, Thomas C. "Tommy" Custer. Click for more.

July 25-26, 2008 - Capping a decade-long research project, Miner personally publishes and distributes a book reprinting a complete set of issues of the Younkin Family News Bulletin newspaper, originally published between 1937 and 1941 on a nationwide scale. The high quality, tabloid-size publication contains high quality copies of all 44 pages from the eight original editions, published by Charles Arthur Younkin of Charleroi, PA during the Great Depression and just before World War II. The book also features copies of original invitations and newspaper clippings from the National Younkin Home Coming Reunions of Somerset County, PA, held between 1934 to 1941. Plans are to distribute copies of the book to public libraries and historical societies throughout Western Pennsylvania, underwritten by today's National Younkin-Junghen Reunion. The initiative is covered by the Uniontown Herald-Standard (headlined "Reprinting of Family's Newspaper Highlights Reunion") and Somerset Daily American.

Pittsburgh 250 official Bill Flanagan, senior VP of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, speaks at the 2008 national Minerd- Minard- Miner- Minor reunion at the Heinz History Center. Miner is reunion president.

June 28-29, 2008 - Miner leads the annual national reunion of the Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor family, held at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh to celebrate the city's 250th birthday. Andrew Masich, CEO of the Heinz History Center, and Bill Flanagan, president of the Pittsburgh 250 Commission and senior vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, speak at the reunion. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review both carry major feature stories, with Miner also interviewed on KDKA-TV. At left, Masich and Miner shake hands in the Great Hall of the Heinz History Center upon the conclusion of a highly successful event.

June 26, 2008 - At the national conference of CPAmerica International, part of the world's sixth largest association of independent accounting and management consulting firms, Miner introduces Pittsburgh Business Times editor Lauren Lawley Head for remarks on "How to Work with the Press." He also gives a joint presentation on "Tips for Winning Proposals" with Mary Bevans Gillett of the CPA firm of Dennis, Gartland & Niergarth of Traverse City, MI. The conference, held in Pittsburgh and hosted by the local CPA firm Malin Bergquist, for which Miner is chief marketing officer, is part of the Pittsburgh 250 celebration.

Malin Bergquist CEO David Bluemling (center) and Duquesne University's Robert Kollar (right) are interviewed on "Our Region's Business" on WPXI-TV by host Bill Flanagan, who serves as executive vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and as head of the Pittsburgh 250 Commission.

June 22, 2008 - David Bluemling, CEO of the Malin Bergquist & Co. CPA firm, is interviewed on WPXI-TV's "Our Region's Business" about the upcoming national conference of CPAmerica International in Pittsburgh, and also what the profession is doing to counter the shortage of younger talent. View the clip.

June 9, 2008 - For a large Pittsburgh-based professional services firm, Miner leads a personal marketing planning workshop for 20 younger professionals seeking to build their reputations and business relationships. Each attendee's assignment is to create a mini-plan before leaving that day, and then follow up with Miner later to develop more specific goals and timelines for execution and quarterly measurement.

March 2008 - Miner creates and produces the inaugural Annual Review of Malin Bergquist, a Pittsburgh Top 20 CPA firm and the largest certified public accounting firm in Erie and Greensburg, PA. The eight-page report features the highlights of the past year in which the firm doubled in size with two mergers, and more formally established its niche specialty practices and regional office network. He also is pictured and featured in the report in his role as the firm's chief marketing officer. Click to view a printer-friendly version of the report.

Judge Joy Conti, left, with Miner and Milded Sefton of the Beaver Area Heritage Museum

March 28, 2008 - Miner is pictured and quoted in the Lawyers Journal of the Allegheny County Bar Association in a major feature article, "U.S. District Court Portrait Collection Nearly Complete." He is pictured with the Hon. Judge Joy Flowers Conti, Chair of the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, as she unveils a portrait of the late U.S. District Judge W.H. “Seward” Thomson in the court offices in Pittsburgh, along with Mildred Sefton, representing the trustees of the Beaver Area Heritage Museum. Click for a reprint of the article.

March 2008 - Miner's award-winning genealogy and regional history website, Minerd.com, and the National Minerd-Miner Reunion of which he is president, are featured on VisitPittsburgh.com, the website of the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau, for their role in promoting the Pittsburgh region and Western Pennsylvania to an estimated 50,000 extended cousins during the city's "Pittsburgh 250" anniversary year. The clan's annual reunion will be held on Sat., June 28, 2008, at the Heinz History Center. Click for details.

Jan. 13, 2008 - The Borough of Beaver, PA launches a new marketing website, www.beaverpa.us, leveraging the community's status as a Pittsburgh Magazine "Top 10" neighborhood. Designed by Semonik Creative, the site showcases many of Miner's photographs showing historical sites and events in this charming victorian town on a bluff above the Ohio River.

Miner and more than 100 shareholders of ECI Development celebrate the January 2008 groundbreaking for the Milagro Del Mar condominium at Gran Pacifica Beach and Golf Resort in Nicaragua.

Jan. 11, 2008 - Miner gives a presentation at the annual shareholder meeting of ECI Development, Ltd., in Managua, Nicaragua. Several days later, he and more than 100 North American and Nicaraguan shareholders are pictured in Nicaragua's El Nuevo Diario newspaper in a full-page article about the groundbreaking for a new condominium at the company's Gran Pacifica property.

2007

Dec. 19, 2007- Miner represents the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation and Historical Museum at a Pittsburgh 250 press conference held by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and The Sprout Fund, announcing the selection of 100 regional and grassroots groups to receive a total of $1 million in funding for projects during the region's 250th anniversary in 2008. The Heritage Foundation's $5,000 grant will be used to help equip the Fort McIntosh Garrison with new uniforms and gunpowder for muskets and cannons. Fort McIntosh, on the bank of the Ohio River in Beaver, was the first permanent peacetime post of the U. S. Army and is a Beaver County connection to the Revolutionary War. Click for more.

Nov. 15, 2007 - For the second straight year, Miner presents guest lectures at the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics, to senior marketing students, on the topic of “Tough Lessons in Real Life Marketing and Public Relations."

November 2007 – In his role as chief marketing officer for Malin Bergquist & Company, LLC – Erie's largest CPA firm, and a Pittsburgh “top 20” CPA firm – Miner and nearly 40 Malin Bergquist team members are pictured on the cover of the Business Magazine of the Manufacturers Association of Northwest Pennsylvania, posed on the stairway of the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie. Click to view the article in printer-friendly and html formats.

Oct. 19, 2007 – As past president, Miner appears in a special video premiered at the 40th anniversary dinner of the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation, commenting on the extraordinary group of volunteers and vision for the future that are driving the organization's long-term accomplishments.

Sept. 27, 2007 - The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quotes Miner in its story about Priit Vesilind and the "National Geographer" exhibit at the Beaver Area Historical Museum in an article headlined "Writer, Editor Has Story to Tell in Museum Display."

Aug. 1, 2007 - Miner is appointed chief marketing officer of his longtime client, Malin Bergquist & Co., LLP, one of Western Pennsylvania's largest and fastest growing certified public accounting firms, with offices in Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Erie.

August 2007 - In his newsletter message to all residents of the Beaver Area School District, Superintendent Dr. John C. Hansen highlights "a comprehensive design of our school website. With the help of the very competent staff of Miner Communications, we have constructed our website to be very informative, interactive and user-friendly."

July 21, 2007 - Miner gives a powerpoint presentation in North Platte, Neb., at the 34th annual conference of the Little Big Horn Associates, a national organization devoted to promoting the legacy of General George Armstrong Custer. The talk is based on his award-winning article, "Tontogany, Ohio's Deep Secret: The Unknown Son of Thomas Ward Custer." Miner makes a call to action for continuing research and preservation of Thomas Ward Custer material and records of the Sons of Union Veterans, and for efforts to be made to mark the Custer family's Civil War era homesite in Tontogany, near Bowling Green, Ohio.

May 2007 - The Allegheny Conference on Community Development, which is leading the celebration of the City of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary in 2008, licenses Miner's website, Minerd.com, to use its trademark "Pittsburgh 250 logo" for its unique role in promoting Western Pennsylvania, and for educating tens of thousands of Minerd- Minard- Miner- Minor descendants scattered around the world that their ancient roots are based in the region.

April 30, 2007 - Miner is mentioned in the influential Nicaraguan news magazine, Trinchera de la Notica, in an article headlined (and translated): "Nicaraguan Boy to Be Attended at Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh." The humanitarian initiative is a collaboration between Gran Pacifica Beach and Golf Resort, Nicaragua's Institute of Tourism (INTUR), the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, innerCHANGE associates international llc, and Children, Health, Education and Supporting Services (CHESS).

March 2007 - In a collaborative effort with the design firm of Semonik Creative, Miner produces the inaugural Vision Statement of the Rotary Club of Beaver, as a forward-looking summary of the club's vision and aspirations for the next year, and superseding its well-known Annual Report which had been published the previous three years.

Feb. 10, 2007 - Miner publishes the 2006 Annual Review of his unique creation, the award-winning genealogy and regional history website, Minerd.com. The site logged more than 225,000 visitors the past year, up 31% from 2005, and was recognized nationally with an award and in books, blogs and newspaper articles.

Jan. 12, 2007 - While in Managua, Nicaragua, for the meetings of the Gran Pacifica Beach and Golf Resort, Miner orchestrates a large group photograph of the 150 American investors and lot owners in attendance, with the Pacific Ocean, first condominium and new golf clubhouse in the background.